


Family

by sentimentalPackrat



Category: Hiveswap, Homestuck
Genre: Delusions, F/M, Fucked Up, Implied Kidnapping, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Post-Canon, Stockholm Syndrome, Unreliable Narrator, technically???, that one au where Joey Jude and their troll buds go to Earth C after Hiveswap, yeah - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-06
Updated: 2017-10-06
Packaged: 2019-01-09 22:47:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12285855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sentimentalPackrat/pseuds/sentimentalPackrat
Summary: For the first time since he was five years old, Jake English has a real family! He must admit, he's rather giddy.





	Family

Your name is Joey Claire and you are currently stumbling down the stairs for a reason you can't recall, your hands lazily grabbing at the handrail to keep balance. The world is currently far too dizzying for your liking. Your head isn't fairing much better, it feels too light and fuzzy. Pa (who's not really your Pa but at the same time kind of is) says your sick. Must be why your head is spinning so badly. Your (new?) Pa is much better than your other (real?) Pa. He actually sticks around and is trying to take care of you and Jude.

Your legs buckle under your weight as you finally reach the ground floor. Your hands reach out to soften your blow, but you're far too weak. A bang rings out as your head connects with the hardwood floor and you let out a groan.

"Joey?" Ja- no, Pa's voice calls out.

You give a mumble in response. You're too dizzy to speak actual words.

"Joey, what are you doing out of bed?" Footsteps approach and you're suddenly hauled upwards.

Pa's green eyes stare into yours, concern filling them. He's much younger than your other Pa. He's about twenty or so, if you remember correctly, but then again, your memory is rather fuzzy. He also has an English accent that you don't ever remember him having on Earth. Er, the other Earth? You... You don't know. Don't remember. Everything is... Too fuzzy.

Pa comforts you, one hand stroking your hair and the other rubbing circles into your back. He whispers comforting words to you as he holds you tightly. Soon the fuzziness fades to a lulling warmth. You feel Pa shift around and suddenly you're lifted into the air. You might be a bit too heavy to carry at fourteen, but Pa puts up a good effort and you hardly feel yourself slip from his grasp at all. Though, that might just be because of how clouded your head is. He takes you into his room. You all sleep there when it's bedtime, although you can't think of any time where you're out of bed. He carefully lays you beside Jude who stirs slightly in his sleep, and Pa tucks you into bed.

Pa smiles. "Sleep tight, darling." And he presses a kiss to your forehead.

You smile back and close your eyes. You hear him shuffle out of the room and close the door. Warmth washes over you and soon you find yourself falling into sleep's grasp. But, you can't help but wonder why you were trying to go downstairs. You soon shrug off the thought, though, as you burrow deeper into the blankets and drift off to sleep.

\-------------

Your name is Jake English. Not Jake Harley, no. Never Jake Harley. You must admit you're rather giddy. For the first time since you were five you have an actual family! Er, it's not that you don't love Dirk, Roxy, or Jane, and it's not that you don't consider Jade or John as family either, but they're all so busy! They all have their own lives. But, Joey and Jude? They live with you now. They're family. You must admit it's rather strange to think that Joey went from hating your guts and Jude from passive indifference to showing up at your door, asking to stay with their "Pa." But, who were you turn them away? Especially after hoping beyond all hopes that they would forgive you for the actions of your other self. Speaking of your other self...

Every insult and curse ever thrown at you by Joey was just a result of the horrible parenting of Jake Harley. "Pa" Harley. That man isn't deserving of such a title, so you think you'll just take that, thank you very much. In fact, why stop with a title? Old man Harley's kids are yours now, too! He never deserved Joey or Jude. The way he treated them... Oh, it just makes your blood boil! But, no matter. Joey and Jude are your family now, and that's all that matters.

Your poor kids (Is it alright to think of them as your kids? You mean, they are, aren't they? Yes, they're your kids. They're yours,) are feeling a bit under the weather. It started ever since they came to your house. Luckily, you picked up some medicine from town a while earlier. It's a pretty far trip, even if you fly, and you're glad you didn't have to go out into town to get some. Maybe they would've thought you were trying to leave them? Just like he did.

A few hours ago, Joey somehow made it out of bed and down the stairs. You fiddle nervously with the bottles in your hands as you wonder what had gotten into her head that made her do that? She really shouldn't be moving about like that while she's so sick. Usually, you spend most of your time taking care of her and Jude, but today you thought it would be for the best for them to rest most of the day. You... You never can be too careful...

You open the door to your bedroom, letting some light flood into the dark room. You pad in and bend over above the sleeping teens.

"Joey, Jude, time to get up." You whisper, shaking them awake.

The two of them look so cute as they yawn and wipe the sleep from their eyes. A big smile rests on your face as you place two of the bottles onto the bed. Water bottles. The final one is full of pills.

"Pa...?" Jude yawns.

"It's time for you to take your medicine, kiddos." You say, and twist off the cap to dispense two of the pills into your hand.

Joey groans as she struggles to sit up. You move to hold her up with an arm. She takes one pill out of your hand and pushes it past her lips. You hand her a water bottle and she slowly manages to twist the cap off. As you move to take care of Jude, you can't help but think the way they struggle with these tasks is rather endearing. Cute, even. It's probably not the best way to think seeing as they're sick, but your kids are so adorable.

Jude hands his water bottle back to you, signalling that he's done. You pocket the pill bottle and leave the waters on the nightstand next to your bed. You tuck the two back under the covers and kiss both of their foreheads. As you exit, you hear Jude call out, "G'night, Pa," and Joey mumbles out something similar sounding. You smile to yourself. 

You have the best family in the world.

\------------------

Your name is Jane Crocker and you must admit you're rather concerned right now. Not only has Jake been missing for a few days now, but so have Joey and Jude, apparently! One of their troll buddies, not the one with the deer-like horns, but the more nervous one, came up to you in a panic. He said that Joey and Jude have been gone for a few days. They just woke up one morning and the siblings were gone. He and his friend were too... "cautious" to ask for help at first, but after a failed investigation on their part, they decided to ask you. Evidently, you seemed the nicest.

Of course, you call up your friends and start a search for the missing three. Even though practically everyone else is a part of a search party, you feel as though must go in it alone. You are, after all, a rather gutsy gumshoe. The game is on! Plus, what's the worst that could have happened? Earth C has little to no crime and no citizens would dare try to hurt one of their gods, never mind the children of a god! Well, technical children.

Although no one has has seen Jake as of late, you can't technically can't call him missing. Yet. No one's even checked if he's home! Yet. So, in your opinion, you believe the best course of action would be to check up on him (hopefully) there.

It's a bit of a trip away, but you eventually find yourself in front of Jake's door. You knock on it, albeit a bit apprehensively. You find yourself surprised when the door opens to reveal Jake. You stare at him for a second, mouth agape, before you're able to recompose yourself.

Jake smiles at you. "Well, hello there, Jane! What brings you to my humble abode?"

"Oh, I, uh, I-" You stammer. "I was just... Checking on you."

Jake chuckles a bit, eyes crinkling. "Well, that's very kind of you, but I'm afraid I must get back to-"

"Wait!"

"Huh?"

"Joey and Jude, they've gone missing. No one knows where they went. I just thought you should know."

Much to your surprise, Jake lets out another laugh. This one is much longer, much louder. 

"Uh, Jake...?" You shift uncomfortably.

Your friend steels himself, trying to stifle his laughter. "Oh, Jane! They're not lost, they're with me!"

"With you?" You ask as Jake quickly ushers you inside.

He guides you through his house and up the stairs into a bedroom. He opens the door and motions you to look in. You peer into the dark room. Two shapes seem to be resting underneath the blankets. You slowly walk inside. You pull the blankets up and... He wasn't lying. Jude and Joey are sleeping soundly next to each other. You back up slightly only to bump into Jake. You whip around to face him.

"Wh- How are-"

"They just showed up at my house a few days ago."

"Really?"

Jake nods.

Now, you aren't saying you don't trust your friend. But, this all seems a bit too good to be true.

"What time did they arrive?" You ask.

Jake blinks, seemingly taken aback. "Wh- what?"

"What time did they arrive?" You repeat.

Jake gives you a confused look, eyes darting around the room, avoiding your gaze. Almost like... You caught him in a lie.

"Ja-"

"Morning," He interrupts. "Around eight."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Well, that's strange," You reply. "Because their troll friends say they didn't see them that morning. They woke up and these two were gone."

Jake smiles, but it's a nervous one. "Perhaps they left before the trolls awoke?"

You nod, frowning. "Perhaps..."

Jake fiddles with his hands. He's cracking under the pressure.

"Th- they're sick, you know."

Your eyes widen. "Oh, poor things."

"Yeah."

"Then, shouldn't they see a doctor?"

"Oh, no, no," Jake says waving his hands. "I have medicine."

He pulls a bottle of something out of his pocket and presents it to you. But, you can't get a good look at it before he quickly pockets it once again.

You pull a tight grimace. "Can I see that really quickly?"

"What?" He asks. Playing the fool?

"The bottle. Can I see it?"

Jake pauses for a moment and a look of contemplation passes over his face. He then digs into his pocket and hands the container over to you.

It's plain and white. The label must have been taken off. You turn the bottle over in your hands. There's no information you can get from the outside. But, the inside? You twist open the cap and let a few capsules roll out into your hand. The pills are grey and kind of soft. It looks familiar but you can't quite place it. It's sold in town, but it's not medicine. No... You furrow your brows. You're certain that you had seen them someplace before. Where... Where did you-

Oh.

Now you remember. It's a form of painkiller produced by your company. You might be the Maid of Life, but you couldn't be everywhere, healing everyone's wounds all the time. If you recall correctly, it was mostly for particularly painful injuries. It numbed the body and gave the subject a feeling of euphoria. At least, that's what it was supposed to do to injured users. Who knows what the side effects were for those who were perfectly fine but given it anyways?

You bite your tongue, put the capsules back into their container, close it, and hand it back to Jake. He smiles at you. You don't.

"Maybe I could heal them?" You offer.

"Oh n- no! No, that won't be necessary, Jane, thank you."

"Why not?"

"W- well, it's magic f- from the game! Who knows what it could do to them?"

You nod. You must agree he had a point there.

You let out a sigh. "Well, could I at least check their temperature?"

Jake deflates slightly. "Sure."

You lean over and put a hand against Joey's forehead. Normal. Jude's? Normal. You exhale and shake your head.

"So," You begin. "y'know, out of all the things you've claimed today, I could believe that perhaps they really are sick despite the fact their temperature says otherwise. But, I' m afraid the fact that you're also using painkillers as 'medicine' and claiming that they showed up at your house at eight when their roommates never saw them leave sort of shoots your claims in the foot."

Jake looks downwards, fists clenching.

"Jake." You say.

He looks you in the eye. There's something dark in those emerald orbs that makes you falter slightly.

"Do... Do you have something you want to tell me?"

There's a pause for a moment. A silence in the air that hangs around you and Jake as you stare at each other in the darkness. And then, suddenly, almost before you can comprehend it even, hands are around your neck and Jake pushes you down onto the floor. You try to scream but all that comes out is a strangled gasp.

"They learned to love me, so can you." He hisses.

You kick and thrash under him but to no avail as he straddles your hips. One hand leaves your throat as it moves to his pocket. Your hands claw at your neck, trying to wrench his away from your throat. In the corner of your eye, you spot Jake toying with the bottle. He twists the cap off with one hand and pull out one of the small gray capsules.

You grab onto the arm attached to your throat, desperately trying to jerk it away. 

"Jane," Jake pants, holding the pill above you. "Don't fight it."

Your eyes widen in terror as you realize what he plans to do. Your hands move to cover your mouth. You hear Jake let out a growl as he releases his grip on your throat. However, your relief is fleeting. His fists come down to slam into your stomach. With a silent scream escaping your throat, you cover your stomach with your arms. Jake uses this to his advantage and shoves his hand into your open mouth. His fingers hit against your teeth as he drops the small tablet past your jaws. In your shock, you sputter and gulp, and the pill passes down into your throat.

You let out a shriek as Jake chuckles giddily above you.

"Won't be long now, Janey." He giggles.

Even now, your head feels a bit... Fuzzier. Your movements grow sluggish and you feel much more heavy than you did a minutes ago. You mentally kick yourself because you're an idiot. You didn't tell anyone you were heading to Jake's and you're an idiot! Arms wrap around your middle and holds you tight. You try to push away, but find yourself too weak to do so. 

"Pa?" You hear... Joey? Jude? Which one...?

"Joey, dear! Pa's got a present for you!"

Present? What...? You don't... It's getting hard to think.

"Present?" You hear Joey slur.

Jake laughs. "Yes, my dear. Pa's got you a new mommy!"

Mommy? You feel as though you should be panicking, but you... You can't. You're too calm. Everything's too warm and fuzzy. You just want to rest. Jake snuggles closer to you and you feel a hand lift to caress your cheek.

"Welcome to the family, love." Jake whispers.


End file.
